STORRS — UConn's sprint to 40-0 and its ninth national championship was aided by the demolition of the American Athletic Conference. The Huskies won their 18 regular-season conference games by an average of 37.5, a number actually softened by two wins over Louisville, which the Huskies won by a combined 37 points.

In UConn's other 16 games, South Florida was the only team to lose by as few as 25 points, a 63-38 loss in Tampa Feb. 16. And then in the AAC postseason tournament at Mohegan Sun Arena, the Huskies beat Cincinnati by 30, Rutgers by 26 and Louisville by 20 to win the championship.

On Wednesday at the XL Center, the No. 2 Huskies (12-1, 2-0), on an 11-game winning streak since their loss at Stanford on Nov. 17, kick into major conference gear with their first meeting with Tulsa (6-7). So here we go again.

Once again, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis comes into the game needing only three, three-pointers to tie Diana Taurasi's career record (318). Mosqueda-Lewis has been held without a three-pointer in the past two games, the first time that's happened in her career.

One of the focuses of practice Tuesday was trying to fix that.

"When really good players want the ball all the time they tend to get it all the time," Geno Auriemma said. "Somehow or another, it always happens. There may be instances when it's hard to get them the ball. And the way St. John's chose to guard her, while unusual, was effective.

"But we've never been, and we never will be, the kind of team that feels it needs to get anyone 20 shots no matter what. We have too many good players and kids wouldn't come here if that's how we operated."

Against East Carolina and St. John's, Mosqueda-Lewis was 5-for-13 from the field, 0-for-5 from three and scored 11. In her two previous games against SMU and Duke, she'd taken 25 shots, was 7-for-15 from three and had 33 points.

"We haven't done a really good job helping her get open," Moriah Jefferson said. "We have to set better screens and she has to do a good cutting and getting back to the ball. When we have Stewie [Breanna Stewart] and Kaleena moving and cutting around it's pretty hard to stop us."

Maya Moore has been named the 2014 USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year."I'm so fortunate to be around the best in the world through USA Basketball," Moore said. "It was a true privilege to contribute to an awesome team again this year at the World Championship. I'm honored to have the opportunity...

Maya Moore has been named the 2014 USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year."I'm so fortunate to be around the best in the world through USA Basketball," Moore said. "It was a true privilege to contribute to an awesome team again this year at the World Championship. I'm honored to have the opportunity... (JOHN ALTAVILLA)

Before the regular season ends on March 2 at South Florida, UConn, which has a scoring margin of plus-35.8 this season, will play 16 of its last 17 games against AAC teams, stepping out only to play No. 1 South Carolina at Gampel Pavilion on Feb. 9.

The Huskies won their first two AAC games, against SMU and East Carolina, by a combined 102 points. UConn held them to a field goal percentage of .287 (31-for-105)

There are only four teams in the AAC with winning records; UConn, South Florida (12-3), Tulane (11-3) and East Carolina (9-5). ECU lost to UConn by 51 and then lost to Memphis (7-7).

As a result, league coaches are beginning to wonder if they will get any attention from national pollsters. This week, unranked South Florida is the only other team receiving votes in the Associated Press Top 25.

"If you check most of the teams in the poll, you will find that it's not much different than something you might see happen in football," Auriemma said. "If a team is ranked at the start of a season it really takes a lot to get them out [of the polls]. If a team is not in the polls at the beginning of the season, it takes a lot to get them in."

South Florida was the only AAC team (eight votes) mentioned in the preseason AP poll, which had UConn No. 1.

"I don't know that anyone has made or not made the NCAA Tournament based on where they are in the polls," Auriemma said. "It's more important that you have quality wins and that you try to avoid bad losses."

South Florida's three losses are against quality opponents — Maryland, Kentucky and St. John's. The Bulls, who play UConn for the first time on Jan. 18 at Gampel Pavilion, would likely be the only other conference team with legitimate credentials for an at-large invitation.

The Bulls were denied last year when only UConn and Louisville were in the NCAA Tournament.

Tulsa is coming off a 76-70 loss to Central Florida on Saturday in Orlando, Fla. UCF dominated the boards, 50-34.

"We aren't very big, but we've got to show more fight," Tulsa coach Matilda Mossman said after the game.